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REMARKS 



HON. U. F. STOCITON, 



OF NEW JERSE Y, 



PRESENTATION OF THE RESOLUTIONS 



THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW JERSEY, 



COMPROMISE MEASURES. 



JJEilVEIlED IJT THE SENATE OF THE UlflTED STATES, FEBHUAUT 12, 1852* 



WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED BY JNO. T. TOWERS. 

1852. 



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IN EXCHANGE 



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FEB 1 - .,9^5 



REMAEKS. 



The following Kesolutions of the Legislature of the 
State of New Jersey were presented to the Senate, by 
Mr. Miller : 

Whereas the Constitution of the United States is a compact 
between the several States, and forms the basis of our Federal 
Union : 

And whereas the said States, through their Representatives, 
in sovereign capacities as States, by adopting said Constitu- 
tion, conceded only such powers to the General Government 
as were necessary " to form a more perfect union, establish 
justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common 
defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to themselves and posterity : " 

And whereas the questions which agitated the country, and 
absorbed so large a portion of the the time of last session of the 
Congress of the United States ; questions in their nature directly 
opposed to the spirit and compromises of the Constitution, cal- 
culated to destroy our domestic tranquility, and dismember 
our glorious Union, were happily terminated by the Compro- 
mise Measures, it is deemed the imperative duty of this Le- 
gislature to express their sentiments in relation thereto : 
Therefore, 

1. Resolved, (Senate concurring,) That the Constitution of 
the United States was framed in the spirit of wisdom and 
compromise, is the bond of our Federal Union, and can only 
be preserved by a strict adherence to its express and implied 
powers ; that New Jersey, one of the original thirteen States, 
has always adhered to the Constitution, and is unalienably 
attached to the Union, and that she will resist, to the extent of 
her ability, any infraction of that sacred instrument. 

2. Resolved, (Senate concurring,) That this Legislature 
cordially approves the measures adopted by the last session 



of Congress, known as the "Compromise IMeasures," and that 
every patriot, in every part of our widely extended country, 
has cause to rejoice in the adoption of said measures, as a 
triumph of constitutional rights over a spirit of wild and dis- 
organizing fanaticism. 

3. Resolved, (Senate concurring,) That New Jersey will 
abide by and sustain the Compromise Measures, and that her 
Senators in the Senate of the United States be instructed, 
and our Representatives in Congress be requested, to resist 
any change, alteration, or repeal thereof. 

4. Resolved, (Senate concurring,) That the Fugitive Slave 
Law is in accordance with the stipulations of the Constitution 
of the United States, and, in its provisions, carries out the 
spirit and letter of the Constitution in its compromises, upon 
which our Union is founded. 

5. Resolved, (Senate concurring,) That we approve of the 
patriotic stand taken by the Executive of the United States, 
in declaring his determination to execute and enforce all laws 
constitutionally enacted, and that the people of New Jersey 
will sustain him in so doing. 

6. Resolved, (Senate concurring,) That the Governor of the 
State be requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions to 
the Governor of each State in the Union, and to each of our 
Senators and Representatives in Congress. 

The Resolutions hLa%dng been read, Mr. Stocktox 
addressed tlie Senate as follows : 

]Mr. President : I liave also had tlie lionor to receive 
tlie resolutions passed by tlie Senate and General As- 
sembly of tlie State of New Jersey, wliicli have just 
been presented by my honorable friend and colleague. 
Those resolutions, sir, are patriotic and explicit, and 
need no commendation or ex23lanation or defence from 
me. Nor is it necessary that I should follow the exam- 
ple of my colleague, and restate my opinions in regard 
to the important matters of which they treat, further 



than to say, that I entirely concur in the sentiments 
which they express. I have heretofore written and 
spoken as much on this subject as I ought, perhaps, to 
write and speak on any subject; and if Senators and 
the country are not sufficiently well informed in re- 
gard to my opinions, it certainly is no fault of mine. 
It would, likewise, be quite superfluous for me to enter 
upon any vindication of the course which New Jersey 
has taken in relation to the subject-matter of these reso- 
lutions. If, unfortunately, she may, by that course, 
have alienated from her the affectionate regard of any 
of her sister States of the North, I can only for her, re- 
gret such a result, and say, that what she has done, was 
intended for the welfare of the Union — the whole 
Union, and nothing but the Union. It was not that 
" she loved Caesar less, but that she loved Kome more." 
If the men of the South are not satisfied with her course, 
all that I will say to them is, that they are hard to 
please. 

Mr. President, it is a subject of regret as well as sur- 
prise to me, that the differences of opinion in regard to 
the construction of the Constitution should continue to 
excite in the minds of a portion of our fellow-citizens, 
such strong feelings of bitterness and resentment. Dif- 
ferences of opinion acrimonious and exciting, in relation 
to the interpretation of the Constitution, are no novel- 
ties. Bitter controversies growing out of such diversi- 
ties of opinion, disturbed the country long since quite 
as generally as that which is referred to by these reso- 
lutions. Happily they were not of long duration 



6 

They subsided when the will of a majority of the States 
became known. Why, sir, at the time of the adoption 
of the Constitution, great diversities of opinion existed 
among the founders of the Republic. Formidable par- 
ties in Massachusetts, in New York, in Pennsylvania, 
and in Virginia, vehemently opposed its adoption, and 
in many of the smaller States there were great objec- 
tions to some of its provisions. It is known, that it was 
not the plan preferred by New Jersey, and different in 
many respects from the one presented by that pure pat- 
riot and eminent statesman and jurist. Judge Patter- 
son, from New Jersey. But that was the age of self- 
sacrificing virtue. Our fathers sacrificed their feelings, 
their personal interests and ambition, to the public 
safety. They magnanimously acquiesced in the will of 
the majority of the States, and exerted their best facul- 
ties to perfect the Constitution, and to hand it down to 
posterity as a bond of Union. Follomng the example 
of the wise and patriotic founders of the Constitution 
and their cotemporaries, I can jDerceive no reason why 
we should refrain from uniting as they united, in a spiiit 
of generous conciliation, to preserve the Constitution 
hereafter from infraction ; and to restore that harmony 
and those fraternal feelings which should exist between 
the different parties to this compact, and which are so 
essential to its beneficial existence, as well as to the 
happiness of mankind. 

Mr. President, the passage of these resolutions has 
given me no ordinary satisfaction. They were unani- 
mously adopted in each House of the New Jersey Leg- 



islature. They imbody tlie undivided sentiment of 
that State. TJiere^ at least, no dissenting voice is now 
audible in opposition to the Compromise Measures. 
This unanimous declaration of the opinions of New 
Jersey, is entitled to great respect from the States of 
this Confederacy. It is a voice from the Flanders of 
Revolutionary America. New Jersey is that State 
which, more than any other, was the battle-field of the 
Revolution. And is it too much to expect, that her 
example should exercise a salutary influence upon Con- 
gress, and the whole country for all time ? Certainly 
not, if unsparing sacrifices for the achievement of free- 
dom, and unfaltering fidelity in maintaining it, deserve 
commendation and respect. 

Sir, New Jersey -has produced her heroes and her 
statesmen, but not her historian. When her history 
is written, that will be her eulogy. There is no stain 
on her escutcheon. Her sons can trace back their an- 
cestry through many generations without finding their 
blood curdling in the veins of a slave. Her territory 
was settled by freemen, by men whose pride it was, 
not only to be free, but just. True to themselves, and 
true to \Trtue and patriotism, no foot of her soil was 
wrenched by fraud or force from the original savage 
proprietors. The last shadow of an Indian claim, a 
claim to some reserved hunting and fishing grounds, 
was voluntarily extinguished by purchase many years 
ago. She has as much pride in looking back to her 
Colonial as to her National history. In the long strug- 
gle with insolent governors and royal perogative, her 



8 

people were never driven "back one lialr-line from the 
assertion and maintenance of all the rights conferred 
upon them by their original grant; and when the 
final struggle for Independence came, she was then 
among the first to enter the bloody arena. She threw 
^ overboard the Royal Government, and established a 
free Constitution before the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, and in advance of her sister States, with the ex- 
ception, I believe, of New Hampshu-e and South Caro- 
lina. Of the part which she took in that memorable 
struggle, she has memorials which will never perish. 
Bunker Hill and Lexington and Brandywine and 
Charleston were glorious, but not altogether successful 
fields. They wear the laurels of Thermopylae. But 
the Marathons of the Revolution are in New Jersey. 
Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth — commemorate vic- 
tories. From their bloody fields freedom sprung dis- 
enthralled and invigorated. None of the " Old Thir- 
teen" made more costly pledges to the cause of Liberty 
and the Union. On her territory everywhere may be 
seen the marks of hostile armies. She was literally 
baptised in blood. None of her old household home- 
steads, but are rich with the legendary tales of plunder 
and cruelty suftered at the hands of the enemy. Few 
of her old famihes, but gave of theii' best blood to the 
cause ; and when the struggle was ended, she reposed 
on the sacrifices she had made, and left to others the 
task of boasting of their acheivements. She had per- 
formed her duty and was satisfied. 

Nor has New Jersey been less true to the Union in 



peace fhan in war. Among the first in Iier exertions 
to achieve our liberties, slie yields to none tlie palm of 
superior exertions in maintaining them. When the 
imperfections of the articles of the old Confederation 
became manifest, she was the first to clothe her Com- 
missioners to the Convention at Annapolis, in 1Y86, 
with full powers to remodel the whole form of Gov- 
ernment. She united with New York, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, and Virginia, in giving the first impulse to 
the movement which produced the Constitution. She 
was only second to Virginia in sending delegates to 
the Constitutional convention ; and when the Consti- 
tution was formed, she took the lead, with Pennsylva- 
nia and Delaware, in its ratification. She was the first, 
as I stated the other day, to approve the important 
amendments to the Constitution which secured free- 
dom of religion and of speech, and the right of pe- 
tition, which have been the safeguards of the States 
against the encroachments of the General Government. 
She furnished her full proportion of those great men 
whose eloquence and wisdom have guided your public 
councils, and whose heroism has adorned your military 
annals. The first bright names given to glory in the 
war of 1812, were those of Pike and Lawrence, true 
representatives of the Jersey Blues. The first died 
in the arms of victory at Little York — the other with 
the memorable words " don't give up the ship," on his 
lips. There she is. Though small, comparatively, in 
territory, she yields to none in honor, virtue, and pat- 
riotism. She has never been at your doors begging 



10 

importunately for her share of the loaves and fishes." 
If in the lifetime of this Government, now embracing 
a period of three generations of men, she has ever had 
more than two Secretaries of a Department, and one 
Jndge of the Supreme Court, I have forgotten it. 
She has never had even one foreign Mnister. With a 
long extent of sea coast, and with an imperfect tide- 
water navigation running into the heart of the State, 
she has never received any assistance from the General 
Government worthy a name, in aid of her harbors and 
rivers. With her mountains full of iron, zinc, and 
other minerals — ^with her territory dotted all over with 
manufacturing establishments, she has borne without a 
murmer her share of the injuries sustained from an 
ever-changing revenue system. It may be truly said 
of her, that whilst she has borne her full proportion 
of the burdens of the Government, of its direct bene- 
fits she has asked little and received less. Still, there 
she stands, this day as of old, heart and hand, with 
her treasure and her resources, and her blood, pledg- 
ed to a strict construction of the Constitution and to 
the Union of the States. 

In the name of a patriotic, generous, and heroic 
constituency — aye, sir, if my colleague will permit me 
to say — ^in the name of ever}^ man, woman, and think- 
ing child in the State of New Jersey, I place my hand 
on that sacred instrument, and declare for me and 
mine, that no letter of it shall be infracted if we can 
lielp it — neither by Northern or Southern unwise coun- 
sels. If wrongs exist, they must be redressed by law. 



11 

and according to tlie Constitution. But this Union of 
tlie States — tlie World's wonder — is tlie common heri- 
tage, as it is tlie common glory, of all tlie people of 
all the States. We must not permit one link of that 
golden chain to be broken, and the hopes and happi- 
ness of mankind, for all coming time, to be blighted 
in the bud, by wild fanaticism or hasty passion. 
The motion to print was agreed to. 



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